When in 2008 Slater's of Rhuthun/Ruthin closed, I promised myself two things: first, I would never buy a car from any of the mother dealers at Abergele and, secondly, I would never again buy a Citroën.
But what happened? I found an offer too good to be true and broke *both* promises at once.
It's ironic that on March 3rd, 2008, Slater's announced it was closing its Rhuthun site. The business was said to be profitable but it did not fit with Citroën's "steel-and-glass" showroom expectations. Now, 10 years later, what do we see?
And, of course, Slater's simply backed the wrong horse in Citroën. Nissan's sales of its quirkier models—the Juke, Qashqai—brought home the bacon, while its fourth generation Micra seems lame. Actually, overall, Nissan sales are static.
But Citroën?
You know that a brand is in trouble when it begins to stick corrugated plastic sheeting on the side panels of its cars. It's called style over substance and to be honest not much style, either. If there was a cliff at Abergele, Citroën would have fallen off it. In January, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders revealed that 2017 Citroën sales were down 18 per cent. The upmarket DS brand had plummeted by 42 per cent. The C4 is weak. The current generation of the C3 is nowhere near as popular as its ubiquitous first incarnation. There's no family-sized car at all, as the unpopular C5 was dropped in 2016 without replacement. They all seem to have poor residual values.
It didn't help that Slater's Abergele lost VW and Skoda to the car cathedral at Llandudno Junction. In 2017, sales of both these sister brands were down, but only by 0.7 per cent which, in a tight overall market unsure of what to do about diesels, is actually good news. Perhaps Slater's should have considered BMW, Audi or Land Rover. Or even retained its Volvo dealership.
Slater's also championed the electric Nissan Leaf. Now, those who took the plunge must surely be wondering whether they have enough battery charge to get them to the next nearest Nissan dealer, in Chester. Or perhaps they just need a much longer cable...
It's also ironic that the Vauxhall brand that Slater's retains—at Bae Colwyn and two sites farther west—has seen sales drop by 22 per cent... and has now been taken over by the Peugeot Citroën group.
Returning to the sale of Citroëns, the main issue regarding Slater's Citoën cars is their reliability. I can speak from experience. And, although I did buy a Citroën immediately after Slater's Rhuthun closed, I haven't made that mistake twice...
But what happened? I found an offer too good to be true and broke *both* promises at once.
Slater's is now to close its new Abergele site, which sells Nissans and Citroëns (or, as the Daily Post put it, Citreons). The reason is because it has "struggled to work through a deficit in its pension fund despite a successful period of sales and overhead reductions." This isn't the first such forced closure and neither will it be the last.
It's ironic that on March 3rd, 2008, Slater's announced it was closing its Rhuthun site. The business was said to be profitable but it did not fit with Citroën's "steel-and-glass" showroom expectations. Now, 10 years later, what do we see?
And, of course, Slater's simply backed the wrong horse in Citroën. Nissan's sales of its quirkier models—the Juke, Qashqai—brought home the bacon, while its fourth generation Micra seems lame. Actually, overall, Nissan sales are static.
But Citroën?
You know that a brand is in trouble when it begins to stick corrugated plastic sheeting on the side panels of its cars. It's called style over substance and to be honest not much style, either. If there was a cliff at Abergele, Citroën would have fallen off it. In January, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders revealed that 2017 Citroën sales were down 18 per cent. The upmarket DS brand had plummeted by 42 per cent. The C4 is weak. The current generation of the C3 is nowhere near as popular as its ubiquitous first incarnation. There's no family-sized car at all, as the unpopular C5 was dropped in 2016 without replacement. They all seem to have poor residual values.
It didn't help that Slater's Abergele lost VW and Skoda to the car cathedral at Llandudno Junction. In 2017, sales of both these sister brands were down, but only by 0.7 per cent which, in a tight overall market unsure of what to do about diesels, is actually good news. Perhaps Slater's should have considered BMW, Audi or Land Rover. Or even retained its Volvo dealership.
It's also ironic that the Vauxhall brand that Slater's retains—at Bae Colwyn and two sites farther west—has seen sales drop by 22 per cent... and has now been taken over by the Peugeot Citroën group.
Returning to the sale of Citroëns, the main issue regarding Slater's Citoën cars is their reliability. I can speak from experience. And, although I did buy a Citroën immediately after Slater's Rhuthun closed, I haven't made that mistake twice...
Tags:
Slater's/Ruthin Décor